Gibson/Epiphone ES-335 DOT Reissue

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pisces7378

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I have recently bought, after years and years of wanting, an Epiphone ES-335 DOT Reissue with those fat ass "F-holes" and beautiful red finish.

Anyway, I own already 2 Fender Stratocasters, 1 Fender Telecaster, and 1 Fender Prodigy. So as you might have noticed, I am more than acquanted with Fender's guitars and how to adjust them until I have things perfect for me.

But with this new Gibson (Epiphone) I am having problems customizing some things. Could someone explain a few things to me?

1) How in the hell do I get the string action to raise up and down. At the moment the strings are quite high and I have turned the little screws as far as they will go and they didn't really effect things much.

2) Also how do you adjust the truss rod? Do I have to unscrew and remove the little plastic piece at the head stock?

3) If I want to change the volume knobs myself (the Epiphone comes with some not so nice looking gold top hat knobs and I want the BLACK plastic top hats that come on the real Gibson. (by the way, I am not trying to be an imposter and buy the Epiphone and try to pass it off as a Gibson)

4) If I wanted to change the pickups, or change out a faulty knob in the future... How on EARTh do you do something like that? There are no holes in the back and I don't think that I am supposed to rip the top face off the thing for something like that. What do ya do?

5) What is the difference between the Epiphone and the Gibson ES 335. Someone on here already told me that the pickups are different. What are the differences?

Thanks guys,

Mike
 
7378,
1. I don't know
2. I don't know
3. I don't know
4. I don't know
5. I don't know

Any help? he, he, he.
dtb
 
Any Help????

Whas that any help? Uhhh Yeah... it helps me know who NOT to ask questions to. :D
 
I like the dot, its NOT a 335, it's its own cool guitar, though.

Your answers:
1.) The Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge. Loosen the strings and move it up and down.

2.) yes, the truss rod has a nice little cover on it, take it off and adjust away.

3.) I dont see a question here, but the knobs yoare interchangeable.

4.) Any semi-hollow is really hard to work on the electronics. There are little tools that are like jewlers tools that reach inside the F-holes to work on it. Ask a guitar tech where he got his stuff at and what he uses.

5.) They are 2 different guitars that happen to look alike. The playability, sound, feel, build...are all different. Depending on how new yours is, it MAY have Gibson pickups in it, though. I did see a bunch at MARS that had USA Gibson pickups in them. There was a time a few years ago when I actually has a real 335 (wasnt mine, it was on extended borrow) AND an Epi Dot. I liked both guitars, and like I said before, the Dot is its own special guitar with unique sound and feel. Love it good!!

H2H
 
Thanks Man

It's cool that you answered my questions. Thanks.

Now about the knobs... I just wanted to know what you recomend I do to pop those suckers off. I don't want to gawg (sp?) the wood trying to pop of a knob and I certainly do not want to crack the thinner wood. Butthose guys are wedged on there tight. How could I get em off?
And should I glue the new ones on or just leave them squeezed on, incase I want to do this agan? If not what kind of glue? Basically what I am asking is... does Gibson/Epiphone glue the knobs on, or just stick em on hard?

Thanks,

Mike

P.S. Isn't it a real pain in the ass to have to de-tune... tuen some screws, then tune up and pray that you don't have 12th fret buzz? Should I screw the two screws up and down at exactly the same rate, or if I felt the need, couls I screw the low end screw higher than the high string end for quicke solo action, while avoiding low end buzz? or in your opinion might that mess things up?
Again thanks!
 
If the knobs wont pull off try cutting through them with a small saw or dremel. You could probably use a drill even. Just weaken them enough to crack them with some pliers and you can clean off the post and put on new knobs.

I take no responsiblity for you destroying anything but that is one way to get stubborn knobs off.
 
Thanks man... I might just try that. I figue a small razor saw would slice through the top until it hits the post, and then I could rock it a little forward and saw a little 45 degree angle, being careful no to goug the wood, then rock it 45 degrees the other way and saw through again being careful. Then crack that little fucker off!

Where can I order some black plastic top hat Gibson knobs? Anyone got a link?

Thanks again Texas. Once again reafferming the phrase... "Don't Mess with Texas"

Mike
 
Good replacement parts can be had from Stewart Macdonald at:

www.stewmac.com

The knobs are not glued on and I would not recommend glueing the new ones on - if you do and need to take the pot out you have to destroy the knob to get it out, or you can heat the pot shaft with a soldering iron to melt the glue, but taek my word for it, you don't want to do that (don't ask!).
You should be able to either grab the knob with a pair of pliers or (the way I do it) is to slip a small flat head screw driver under the knob rim close to the pot shaft and slowly ease the knob up and off. I have several GIbson guitars and none of the knobs are glued on.

To replace or work on the pickups, loosen the strings, unscrew the four screws that hold the pickup mounts in place and remove the pickups. To take the pickups out of the mounts you need to unscrew the two height adjusting screws (one at each side of the pickup in the pickup mounting).

To remove the pots is a pain in the ass. You have to go in through the 'f' hole. One tool that I have found to be invaluable when doing this is a surgeons needle-nose clamp. They have a little locking devise on them to hold whatever you have in the jaws (in this case the pot). The one major deal is if you taek out the whole wiring harness, tie a piece of string to the output jack so the string is threaded through the body of the guitar. When you want to replace it, you just pull it into the hole in th ebody. Otherwise you'll be there forever trying to get the wire to the hole at the output. It will take you years to reconnect it. Okay, at least a half hour, anyway. A little dentists mirror is a very useful tool, too.


As far as height adjustment goes, the lower the pickup is from the strings, the less signal you're going to get, but the cleaner your sound will be. The closer you get to the strings, the more power in the signal, so more distortion.

String height is a mix of concave neck adjustment and bridge height. In my experience (and a 345 has been my main gigging axe for 20 years or so) lower action doesn't usually make for the best tone (YMMV!). I use Dean Markley's .010 through .46, but what you're most comfortable with is the best way for you to go.

To adjust the bridge height, loosen the strings (if you're taking it up, but not necessary if youre taking it down) and move it until it's comnfortable. Re-tune. If you adjust it a long way, you will need to re-intonate the guitar.

Once you have it set where you like it, you will love this guitar. Extremely versatile, great for rock, blues and jazz, some styles o country etc.

If you want to replace the pickups, Seymour Duncan sound great - '59 at the neck and a Mag or JB at the bridge with a coil tap in a sprung pot on/off switch.

Enjoy,

foo
 
I have this guitar! I can answer your questions firsthand.
1. Gibson knobs will not fit! (I tried gibson gold tophats)I bought some black guitar center speed knobs that fit well and look good. To take the knobs off put a piece of wood on the guitar to pry against with a screw driver. Warning they may break! (cheap thin plastic). Note the knobs are not glued, do not glue new ones on.
2. They do not have Gibson pickups, the pickups are "Gibson USA designed." I replaced by neck pu with a gibson 490n? Nice improvement. When you unscrew the pu you can get to the wiring.
3. To adjust the bridge turn the 2 screws on top of the bridge with a screwdriver(this is different than the gibson bridge) Too low and it will buzz.
4. Unscrew the plastic cover on the headstock to adj the trussrod. I would get the neck straight or slightly concave(may help buzzing with very low action.)
5. Overall this is a nice guitar(I have several gibsons). The gibson will have a nitro finish vs poly, US pickups & hdw, neck binding for about 5 times the cost. This is a good way to see if you like the 335 concept. Rick
 
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